Friday, 10 June 2011

Overreaction much? Keep the Faith.

Well I'm not going to lie, football fans are a weird bunch. Myself very much included. We watch 22 highly-paid men not related to us in any way charge round a field kicking a piece of polyurethane and poly vinylchloride at two sets of posts for fun, and can argue 'til the cows come home of the various results, standings and games to come.

But that's why football is so great. Some people are enthusiastic about every signing, managerial appointment and board change, and some are always underwhelmed. But one thing I have noticed is how much some people can overreact. Earlier today Roberto Martínez reaffirmed his commitment to Wigan Athletic and thus closing the door on rumours he would be the new Villa boss. (Which by the way, I am very impressed with the loyalty shown by Martínez, even if Mr. Whelan may have pressured him into doing so by his public remarks.)

This, however, has been taken to mean "Martínez has turned down the offered Villa job." He hasn't, he has not and was not offered the job. Cue hysteria from Villa fans and more specifically other team's fans who claim that "Villa have sunk lower" from this news, like Martínez was the last decent choice. He was certainly a candidate, and a decent one, but by no means was he necessarily Randy Lerner's top choice. Or the best name left for us to get.

Just who is Randy's man?

I fully trust in our chairman to make the correct appointment, even if it takes another week or two. Rushing into an appointment is often an unwise decision, and one I'd rather avoid, especially considering our last season of turmoil. I'm sure that the board have a list of managers who I would be very happy with ready to be interviewed or indeed keen to take over.

Either way, we can do nothing but sit back and watch. But whoever we appoint, I will back them and give them time, even if I don't personally like them or rate them. I don't likeAndrés Iniesta personally but I would give my left kidney to see him playing for Villa now. I don't rate a lot of players, but if they came to Villa I wouldn't write them off straight away.